


Stay

by MioyatThePineapple



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life, a bit fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 06:09:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16510811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MioyatThePineapple/pseuds/MioyatThePineapple
Summary: Robin and Chrom have a conversation on a balcony.





	Stay

**Here**

===

It had gotten somewhat overwhelming, and so he’d left.

Chrom had attended parties before- or rather, he’d thought he had. In reality, he’d only attended mislabelled social gatherings that were far too monotonous, far too quiet, too stiff and unemotional to deserve the name. Arrive, greet the other nobles, walk a lap around the social circle before escaping, maybe stay a bit longer if there was food provided- the usual routines for those affairs. A touch of wine, gossip exchanged, and that was all.

This--  _ this _ was a party. Loud, lively, enough food to feed the Shepherds and enough alcohol to wash it all down- no routine. Only  _ fun _ . Laughter and celebration rang through the halls, genuine happiness and enjoyment, enough to make Chrom seriously consider revising a few legislature excluding commoners from formal palace events- and even as he was thinking about it, he received a few reminders as to why they had been instituted in the first place: it would be rather costly to replace those marble columns. And yet…

(Ylisse had a history of partying that easily eclipsed that of the other two nations on the continent, mostly because their reasons to party did the same. It was something Chrom had always been aware of, and never really  _ known _ , not until tonight. There hadn’t been very much to celebrate until just recently, after all.)

The balcony was a sharp contrast from the main ballroom: quieter, for one, as everything else faded into the background; less bright, the only source of light being the silver moonlight cascading from overhead, and the stars scattered across the dark blue, while breathtaking, were too far to really do anything for the lighting; certainly less crowded, because most people would want to be at the main event about twenty feet away.

But there was someone else out here. Someone who had left earlier. And Chrom had been looking for him.

Footsteps alerted the latter to his presence. Robin turned

_ his hair catches the moonlight, and both are glowing, he is radiant _

and smiled. “I thought you would’ve been inside, with everyone else.”

“Well, I stayed there for a while. But admittedly, while the uninvited entertainment is fantastic, there’s only so many times you can watch Vaike disgust Maribelle before all the punchlines start to feel the same.” 

And Robin- laughed. 

_ and everything else fades into the background _

Chrom stepped up beside him, and the two gazed from the balcony to the city below. A cool breeze, gently blowing, stung the tips of his ears and the end of his nose, the cold of the railing beneath his arms a dull bite, and all of it to serve as a reminder that he was  _ here _ \- alive. They were  _ both _ here, and this was real.

(Another reason to celebrate.)

“Ylisstol’s beautiful.” Robin’s voice, soft and piercing, cut through the silence and prompted Chrom to look up. “I mean, I’ve seen it before- during the day. And up close. And it was fine. But this is...something else. The lights across the city- it’s almost like a reflection of the sky. And seeing everything under moonlight is a lot different than seeing it under sun…”

“There aren’t usually so many lights on. I think the people who couldn’t make it to the palace might be throwing their own parties. There sure are a lot of them.”

“Everyone’s happy. And…” Lowly, “I’m happy too.” A pause, for the sincerity to sink in. “I did a bit of thinking. About the war. We were fighting for Ylisse, for her people and her future, weren’t we? I’d known that, we all did, but I didn’t really  _ know _ it until- tonight.” Gesturing out to the expanse dotted by light, “This. We were fighting for this. For people to be able to smile, without worry or fear. For people to be able to  _ celebrate _ . And...for you, too.” 

_ The war. _

**_We_ ** _ fought. _

Looked higher, into the eyes that had never once deceived him. At the person who had always been by his side, with no political pretenses: Robin had joined and helped for reasons entirely his own, remained for the same, asked for nothing in return but the same benefits that were given to all of the Shepherds: free food and lodging, a steady income, and advancing social rank was very prominently absent from the list. He had stayed for personal reasons…

_ My war. My tactician. _

_ I dragged him into it, didn’t I? In a way…  _

_ He chose to join. Because he didn’t have very many other options. _

_ We’re both alive. And if he wasn’t, then- would it have been my fault?  _

“I’m sorry,” Chrom blurted.

“Huh?”

“You- shouldn’t have. Been fighting for me. You shouldn’t have been fighting at all. This wasn’t supposed to be your war, the pain it caused should never have been yours. It was my kingdom’s. It was mine.” 

_ And yet you’re still here.  _

“...suppose you weren’t there when I woke up.” Alarmed, Chrom’s eyes widened- “No, let me finish. Suppose I woke up in that field that day, by myself. I wander to the nearest town. I find a job, and our paths never meet, except in the case where you might have to rescue from bandits. In that case, I wouldn’t have become your tactician, wouldn’t have fought in the war- we might never have become,” a slight hesitation before the word, which Chrom missed completely, “friends. ...Is that really what you would have preferred?”

Immediately, “No.”  _ Never. _

It was selfish. Emmeryn had given her entire self for her kingdom, dedicated her life to protect it and in the end, sacrificed herself to save it. She would’ve offered anything for the sake of others. Her successor couldn’t let go of a single person, even for the sake of his own happiness. 

(Distantly, as if from a recollection of those days afterwards, he felt the weight of a legacy he was already failing to live up to.) 

_ If you were here, would you have said the right thing? _

But she was gone, and no answer came.

“Well...I’m glad to hear it. Because I feel the same way. I wouldn’t exchange anything for the chance to be by your side.” 

Warmth blossomed from deep within. “Truly?” Chrom knew the answer, had known it before before he’d even thought of the question, but he’d wanted to hear it himself. To hear it in Robin’s voice, rather than his own. 

“I’m the best tactician on the continent. I make the best plans in the kingdom. Do you really think you could’ve stopped me from leaving, had I wanted to?” Robin laughed again, sending that same tingling through the tips of Chrom’s fingers… 

_ he is genuine, he is smiling, and there is a bond forged between us, unbreakable _

“I’m still here because I want to be. I want to help you rebuild your kingdom-”

And he had the strength left for a final selfishness. “-our kingdom.”

“...come again?”

Heart hammering in his chest, “Not- my kingdom.  _ Ours _ .”

Lightly, “I… I don’t…”

Chrom reached for Robin’s hand, was met with total lack of resistance, and grasped it gently. “Robin, I…”

_ Don’t deserve you.  _

“...want you to stay with me. So long as I draw breath, so long as I live, so long as I have you by my side, then...” Swallowed. “You’re the kindest, most wonderful person I’ve ever met, and...I don’t know what I would do without you. So please- would you…”

Robin’s eyes widened as Chrom’s head lowered, and that was even before he heard the words. “Marry me?”

“...Chrom, I…”

Immediately, shakily, pulling away, “It’s- alright. I- I thought that, well, you said that- but- I was wrong- it’s okay, it’s not your fault, I’m sorry- I-”

“No, I- Chrom…” Gently, Robin reached up and cupped Chrom’s face. “You’re…not wrong.”

Breathlessly, “Huh…?”

“You just...caught me off guard.” Another laugh, softer and accompanied by brushing hair out of equally blue eyes, “It was rather sudden, after all…”

“So that’s...a yes?”

A nod, and there were tears being brushed away as well. “Robin, I…” Trembling, unable to force down the smile, “Thank you. You’ve made me the happiest person in the world.”

Teasingly, “Happier than Stahl at a castle banquet?”

“ _ Yes. _ ” And Chrom- _ smiled _ , too. “Robin...I love you.” The words were so much sweeter, now that he was saying them aloud. “I love you.  _ I love you! _ ”

“I love you too, Chrom...but I have two requests.”

“Anything.”  _ For you, who’s still here, despite everything. For you, who I can never repay. For you, who I love. _

"This is rather awkward, but- do I get a ring?”

_...Ah.  _

“Certainly. It’s just- not on my person, at the moment. It’s in my room…to be honest, I had been wanting to tell you for a while now, I didn’t really plan on it being _ tonight _ …” And after the laughter had ended, “What was your second request?”

“Right. I need you to lean down.” Gesturing, “You’re too tall for me to kiss.”

“Of course.”

(And the wind blowing, the numbness in the tips of his ears, the warmth of Robin’s hands on his, all served as a reminder that this was real- that they were both  _ here _ . That Robin was by Chrom’s side, and always would be.) 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I started this at 1AM and finished around 4:30 and you can feel the writing getting worse as you keep going
> 
> highkey inspired by "That Would Be Enough" from Hamilton because gosh, that song is very cute and put me into a romantic mood
> 
> (I guess you can count this as a late chrobin week entry. which day? who knows)


End file.
